Wide Area Protection of Neighborhoods and Cities

ShotSpotter is the only company to deploy wide-area protection for gunshot detection. This first in kind system for gunshot detection deploys multiple collaborative acoustic sensors throughout a coverage area to create a robust, redundant coverage array stretching from a single square mile up to 20 or more square miles. The sensors are paired with audio analysis software that identifies the unique signature of gunshots and other loud explosive sounds in real time.

Wide Area Protection covers more ground than existing solutions. Other gunshot detection systems or video surveillance cameras operate within a small radius (100-200 meters around a single sensor). Such point protection sensors, most of which operate as “counter sniper sensors” are good solutions for military applications where the target is known ahead of time. In the case of counter-sniper sensors, the bullet fired by the attacker must pass within a specific, fixed distance (50 meters or less) of the sensor. More broadly, since point protection sensors must have a clear line-of-sight the moment a gun is fired in order to provide useful information, they are less ideal for civilian applications where the targets are unknown.

ShotSpotter's wide-area acoustic protection is the only technology to instantly detect and locate incidents within a large outdoor coverage area. Our protection area extends many square miles in size, regardless of visibility and at distances as far as one mile or more from individual sensors.

Database design helps analyze crime patterns. Using wide-area acoustic technology, ShotSpotter has collected the world’s largest and most accurate collection of urban gunshot data, today numbering in excess of 500,000 gunfire incidents. There is no other technology that captures and organizes the breadth and depth of information that ShotSpotter can leverage for real-time incident review and proactive crime and pattern analysis.

Once the gunfire is detected, ShotSpotter helps law enforcement respond safely and effectively to incidents by providing:

Precise location of gunfire, both latitude/longitude and street address.